1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for reproducing video contents, and more particularly, to a method for reproducing video contents, in which desired screen can be searched automatically at a short time.
2. Description of the Related Art
As multimedia makes rapid progress and video contents are easily manufactured, a quantity of media contents with which general persons come in contact everyday becomes huge.
As video contents become huge, there is a demand for an automated system that can select data desired by a user
In order to satisfy the demand, personal video recorder (PVR) that can record/reproduce data at the same time has been recently introduced.
Unlike video cassette recorder (VCR) that stores video signals in a magnetic tape, PVR is an apparatus that records and reproduces on and from hard disk.
PVR can store maximum 30-hour long broadcasting program, record many programs at the same time, receive latest broadcasting schedules on occasion to enable reservation record, and support a variety of Internet-based services.
Also, if channel is selected, PVR automatically stores current broadcast signals in digital format in hard drive and replays the broadcasting at the same time. Accordingly, if a stop button is pressed and then a replay button is again pressed, the stored broadcast signal is again replayed from the stopped point of time.
Additionally, PVR can replay the current broadcasting again, replay it slowly, skip a bored portion, and find or edit a desired portion.
Further, PVR can record several programs at the same time, instantly stop a live broadcasting, and again replays from a scene several seconds or minutes before.
In order to support these various functions, a keyframe interface is proposed which represents video scenes as images to allow the user to view the scenes from desired location. Such a keyframe interface is a means that represents video scenes as images and allows the user to move to a desired location by inputting a location through the images.
Recently, an intelligent skip or dynamic searching function is provided to allow a searching function to a system that permits a simple user interface, such as PVR.
The intelligent skip is a function of moving to a first location of a long shot disposed at closest from a current location using shot information.
The dynamic searching is a function of allowing a user to quickly move to a desired location by replaying some specific sessions at normal speed and other specific sessions at fast speed.
However, such various functions have following problems.
Although high speed fast forward function exhibits great effect at a wide search range, the user feels dizzy on occasion. Also, desired scenes are instantly missed sometimes, so that an accurate location movement is impossible.
Also, a video navigation method using the keyframe has difficulty in displaying a large number of keyframes at a limited space in TV environment. If a very small number of keyframes are provided in order to solve these problems, the number of cases that can shift to an actually desired scene is limited. On the contrary, if a very large number of keyframes are provided, it takes a long time for the user to select a desired keyframe from the keyframes.
In case the intelligent skip is used, if the search range is widened, many inputs are required in order to shift to the desired location.
Also, in case the dynamic searching function is used, fast reproductions are required intermediately. Therefore, the user feels dizzy at a fast replay period, although not more serious than the high speed fast forward function.
Accordingly, there is a demand for an apparatus and method for reproducing video contents, which are capable of fast and accurately searching the user's desired locations.